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Abrupt - 6 dictionary results

ab⋅rupt

  [uh-bruhpt]
Use Abrupt in a Sentence
–adjective
1. sudden or unexpected: an abrupt departure.
2. curt or brusque in speech, manner, etc.: an abrupt reply.
3. terminating or changing suddenly: an abrupt turn in a road.
4. having many sudden changes from one subject to another; lacking in continuity or smoothness: an abrupt writing style.
5. steep; precipitous: an abrupt descent.
6. Botany. truncate (def. 4).
Origin:
1575–85; < L abruptus broken off (ptp. of abrumpere), equiv. to ab- ab- + -rup- break + -tus ptp. suffix

Related forms:
ab⋅rupt⋅ly, adverb
ab⋅rupt⋅ness, noun

Synonyms:
1, 3. quick, sharp. See sudden. 2. short, hurried, hasty, blunt. 4. discontinuous, broken, uneven.

Antonyms:
1, 3. gradual. 2. deliberate; patient, courteous.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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a·brupt   (ə-brŭpt')   
adj.  
  1. Unexpectedly sudden: an abrupt change in the weather.
  2. Surprisingly curt; brusque: an abrupt answer made in anger.
  3. Touching on one subject after another with sudden transitions: abrupt prose.
  4. Steeply inclined. See Synonyms at steep1.
  5. Botany Terminating suddenly rather than gradually; truncate: an abrupt leaf.

[Latin abruptus, past participle of abrumpere, to break off : ab-, away; see ab-1 + rumpere, to break; see reup- in Indo-European roots.]
a·brupt'ly adv., a·brupt'ness n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Abrupt

Ab*rupt"\, a. [L. abruptus, p. p. of abrumpere to break off; ab + rumpere to break. See Rupture.]

1. Broken off; very steep, or craggy, as rocks, precipices, banks; precipitous; steep; as, abrupt places. "Tumbling through ricks abrupt," --Thomson.

2. Without notice to prepare the mind for the event; sudden; hasty; unceremonious. "The cause of your abrupt departure." --Shak.

3. Having sudden transitions from one subject to another; unconnected.

The abrupt style, which hath many breaches. --B. Jonson.

4. (Bot.) Suddenly terminating, as if cut off. --Gray.

Syn: Sudden; unexpected; hasty; rough; curt; unceremonious; rugged; blunt; disconnected; broken.

Abrupt

Ab*rupt"\, n. [L. abruptum.] An abrupt place. [Poetic]

"Over the vast abrupt." --Milton.

Abrupt

Ab*rupt"\, v. t. To tear off or asunder. [Obs.] "Till death abrupts them." --Sir T. Browne.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : Abrupt
Spanish: brusco,
German: abrupt,
Japanese: 突然の
More Translations »

abrupt 
1583, from L. abruptus "broken off, precipitous, disconnected," pp. of abrumpere "break off," from ab- "off" + rumpere "break" (see rupture).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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